Essay, Research Paper: On Aids And Moral Duty, Discrimination Goes On

The two essays I read were On Aids and Moral Duty by Willard Gaylin and Discrimination Goes On by Robert H. Cohen. On Aids and Moral Duty says that HIV positive individuals have a moral responsibility to let others know they are HIV positive to protect innocent people from unknowingly contracting the virus. Discrimination Goes On states that the discrimination of people infected with HIV is very real and it would be ignorant to force them to let everyone know of their condition. It could even be more detrimental to their health. The two essays discuss the seriousness of HIV but differ in they way they present their cases and the sides they take.
The essays On Aids and Moral Duty and Discrimination Goes On both deal with whether or not HIV-positive individuals should have to make known that they are infected with the virus. Gaylin says Everyone who tests positive must understand that he is a potential vector for the AIDS virus and has a moral duty and responsibility to protect others from contamination. The moral duty Gaylin is discussing is the duty to inform other about their condition so they can take the necessary precautions from contracting the virus. Cohen, the author of Discrimination Goes On , also discusses the topic but feels that we cannot force HIV-positive to come forward unless there is a federal antidiscrimination law for people with HIV. Cohen feels this way because he has personally known people that have been discriminated against for the fact that they are HIV positive.
The essay On Aids and Moral Duty uses many words and phrases to appeal to your feelings while Discrimination Goes On uses mainly examples. While reading On Aids and Moral Duty you run across the phrase moral responsibility many times. This phrase is mainly used in context as why AIDS victims should make their condition public. It is meant to make AIDS victims feel guilty and sympathetic to his opinion on this topic. Gaylin also uses the line We have a duty to protect the innocent and the unborn. This line is meant to make people understand that if we do not protect our children and youth then what kind of future to we have. This words and phrases are affective in drawing readers to Gaylin s side but it very different from Cohen s use of words in Discrimination Goes On . Cohen mainly uses examples to draw readers towards his side of this debate and make us see that discrimination against aids victims is very real indeed. In one example Cohen tells of how he has known people who have been evicted from home, fired from jobs, denied health insurance and dental or medical care because they were gay.
On Aids and Moral Duty and Discrimination Goes On are two very different stories. They differ in the way they present the stories and on the sides they take on the topic of whether or not HIV-positive individuals have a right to identify themselves. This highly debated topic was the only similarity between the stories that was noticeable but proved that while discussing the same topic you can present your side in many different ways.